Hospital, DCF Receiving Threats Over Teen's Chemo Battle

Cassandra C., the teen who lost her battle against the state to stop her chemotherapy treatments, says her hospital and the Department of Children and Families are now receiving threats about the case. (Published Friday, Jan. 16, 2015)

In a plea via Facebook, 17-year-old Cassandra C. said Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Department of Children and families have received threats after last week’s Supreme Court decision, which ruled the teen was not mature enough to make her own medical decisions.

Cassandra, who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, is required to undergo chemotherapy treatments until she turns 18 in September.

“Recently there have been a lot of threatening phone calls made to the hospital and to DCF," Cassandra wrote in a message to NBC Connecticut. "I understand there are people outraged by my situation, I am certainly not happy about it myself, but making threats is not and will not help me in any way at all.”

“When I ask about when they are going to release me, they are concerned about my safety because of the phone calls,” she added in a personal message.

“We never blew off appointments,” said Fortin. “We never missed appointments. Did we have to reschedule some because of our work schedule? Absolutely.”

Neither the DCF nor Connecticut Children's has commented on — or confirmed — the alleged threates. A representative for DCF said the agency wants to focus on making sure Cassandra receives the treatment she needs.

Meanwhile, DCF and the state Supreme Court have stood firm on their decision, saying Cassandra had her chance to prove she was more mature than her actions showed.